When does strictly start 2026? Strictly Come Dancing 2026 will launch its live shows on Saturday 26 September, with Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe taking charge of a new-look series. Week one will not include an elimination, so the first ballot of the season is being pushed back into October.
Emma Willis said: “I’m a huge fan of Strictly” and “can’t quite comprehend” becoming a presenter on the show. She added: “It’s impossible to fill the shoes that Tess and Claudia have left behind – two wonderful, iconic women who have been the beating heart of Strictly for so long” and “I can only hope that we are able to help to steer the ship as beautifully as they have, into this new chapter.”
26 September sets the pace
The annual pre-recorded launch episode is expected to air on Saturday 19 September, one week before the live shows begin. That opening hour will pair Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem and Melanie Walters with their professional dance partners, giving viewers the first clean read on how the cast is shaped before the live scoring starts.
Strictly Come Dancing 2026 now has a fully mapped run, with 15 celebrities revealed for the season. The first Sunday results programme will air on Sunday 4 October, which means the early stretch is built around a launch episode, a first live show and a delayed first elimination rather than the old week-one pressure cooker.
New hosts, old expectations
Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, and the change comes with a practical reset. A three-person presenting line-up changes the rhythm of the launch, the live results flow and the handover between dancefloor and voting, while leaving the core format intact enough for casual viewers to follow without relearning the entire show.
Five professionals are not returning for the new season: Karen Hauer, Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas. That is the friction inside the refresh — the series is selling a new chapter, but it is doing it with fewer familiar faces and a new front-of-house structure at the same time.
Strictly Come Dancing final
The Strictly Come Dancing final is set to take place on Saturday 19 December, which gives the run a clear finish after the autumn launch. For viewers, the useful takeaway is simple: the season starts with a launch episode on 19 September, goes live on 26 September, and does not hand out its first elimination until 4 October. Willis sounds ready for the scale of the job, but the cleaner read is that the show is leaning on continuity in format while changing the people explaining it.
